Organizing a NEW RC Group at Local Church

[AirBoston]

Hello all,
I'm thinking about starting up a group of RC races at a local church. My plan is to get a group of Father/ Son teams for the younger crowd and individual or teams for the older kids. We have a very large rubberized gym for "foul weather" racing and a new parking lot for 'good weather' racing. I'd like to select inexpencive RTR cars (but maybe kits wouldn't be bad either). I just don't know how many people I can get into this if they need to dish out $200+. I thought about the HPI Dash, but with no upgrades and only 3 cars at a time doesn't allow for much racing.

I need ideas on what cars to look at buying. I'd also like to see if anyone has any ideas on getting some help from the RC Car industry. A price discount on the cars and support equipment could really help get more people into this cool hobby.

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?

[jimbow]

trinity t-specs sound like they would fit the bill for ya.

[AirBoston]

Interesting car, but it might be a bit overkill. I'm expecting kids from age 7-18 and parents who think a toy store (or Radio Shack) rc car is high end. Most likely this will be a family's first exposure to the HOBBY of radio control.

I waas thinking more along the lines of a Tamiya 2wd buggy or similar 2wd onroad car.

[TRF Drive Hard]

They re-released tamiya's hornet... seems to be low budget, but not sure about the electronics... but a trinity t-spec comes to mind.

[NotWalkinBlind]

This sounds like a great idea, but I would suggest staying with on-road. 2WD 1/12th pan cars are relatively simple to build and work on... and don't require as much room as AWD 1/10th... but the current crop of 1/12th aren't cheap when you consider what it would cost for a guy and his son to get going... if he had two or more sons... yikes.

I wonder what kind of tire will work on that rubberized gym floor?

Maybe you'd be better off going with 1/18th. Minis or Micros... I dunno much about them, but they come RTR, right? The Duratrax has been discontinued by Tower, but it came in 6 different frequencies:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXFHU2**&P=

Radio Shack has X-MODs... they're 1/28th:
http://www.radioshack.com/category.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F006%5F009%5F001%5F000&Page=1

Dunno if you can get a discount if you buy a dozen or so in either case... just ask. I guess the biggest drawback for those is (I think) they don't use rechargeable battery packs. It could get pretty expensive running through AA alkalines. Maybe go to the Minis and Micro forum and ask a bunch of questions:
http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/forumdisplay.php?f=359

If you go with 1/12th, be to sure make all areas of the track a minimum of 10 feet wide... this is especially important for beginners. It used to really tick me off when I was learning to drive and some of the dummies in our local club would set the track up with 5 and 6 foot wide sections... and later when other noobs would race for the first time.... it's hard enough to learn to drive and pass and be passed... it's insane on a track that's too narrow. We finally put it in the club rules... 10 foot minimum... it was also a ROAR rule at the time.

If you go with 1/18th or 1/28th, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have plenty of track width, either... a typical gym floor has plenty of room... use it.

[Piggy89373]

I'd also suggest going with the 1/18th scale. You could always go with the 18T's, get some astro turf type stuff and set up a small course inside with a few jumps. Kids getting air time with a micro is always a good way to get them addicted.

I'm sure you could get some interesting team names in there...Team Holy Roller. "God blessed us so get out of our way!" :p

[AirBoston]

Ya know, the HPI minis do look interesting. I had thought off road purely for the air time. Kids of all ages like air. Again, I believe cost will be a major factor. This gym is huge. It's a regulation size basketball court. Shoot, I'm trying to get good at flying my chopper so I can take 'sky cam' photos and video coverage. :)

[NotWalkinBlind]

Chopper? You might wanna run that one by your lawyer. ...chuckle...

I suggested on-road simply because of the sense of accomplishment one gets as their driving skills improve and they're enjoying picking racing lines and passing cleanly... and with trucks and jumping, there are more rollovers, etc. and many kids have "been there and done that" with toy grade stuff. On-road is kinda like moving to the next level, IMO... and I think it would appeal to more/most dads, too. If they get the idea it's just gonna be a bunch of crashing and bashing, they might not be as interested... they might also think it would/could produce more breakage, too.

Also, your barriers don't have to be as high with on-road. :D

[NotWalkinBlind]

http://www.one18th.com/

[AirBoston]

Huh, I never thought about the crashing/ breakage issue and the barriers. Maybe onroad is the right thing. Plus with new pavement coming this spring, we'll have a great surface outside too.

lets see how my promotional and nagotiating skills are...

[NotWalkinBlind]

http://yourmicro.com/

[evaderstman]

I would also suggest the t spec, but you should see if the lhs will give you guys a discount or something if you buy in bulk that might help with the costs.

[AirBoston]

What makes this t-spec so good for this use? I've only seen a couple of pictures of it and it looks like something I would have raced way back when I was serious about it. I guess what I'm saying is that for newbies, it may be too much.

I've been looking at the losi and associated 1/18 trucks and the HPI 1/18 cars. They're still a bit pricey for people who "don't know", but maybe I can sell them on the idea.

Wouldn't the trucks be a bit more user friendly though?

[NotWalkinBlind]

At 1/10th scale, the T-Spec would seem to be a much more serious or semi-serious piece of hardware than is necessary for what you're trying to accomplish, IMO. A lot of size, mass, and speed for a father and son thing inside a gymnasium... your barriers would have to be very substantial. There'd most likely be a lot of breakage, too... at least in the beginning.

I dunno what you mean about trucks being a bit more user friendly than cars, but whatever you're talking about, I don't think it would override the many positives of on-road cars as compared to trucks... indoors or out.

Another thing to consider (at least in the beginning) is making the track layout a simple one... perhaps going to a more complex layout later. If you had something like this, with the driver's stand along the straightaway, you'd be providing a very "user friendly" track for beginning drivers.

The X's represent marshalls... if you end up racing the 1/18th vehicles, I'd recommend having a cane pole or something similar for each marshall to use if a car snags against the barrier across the track from them... that way they don't have to go onto the track to get it off, and you don't have any stepped-on vehicles.

Don't forget to tell the drivers they can't hop onto the track to rescue their vehicle. ...chuckle...

[losi4life0007]

Good idea, church racing leagues are fun I started one myself awhile ago. However, the rubberized gym floor you speak of will not work at all if it is anything like our rubberized gym floor. All you will get is tirespin and absolutely no traction. Other than that go for it and have a good time.

[NotWalkinBlind]

Perhaps if your LHS carries HPI Micros or something similar, the owner/manager could convince some people they know who have them to come by the gym one Saturday and demonstate them for you and interested fathers and sons.

If you haven't already thought of the following, now's a good time to do so;

1) Are you going to allow hop-ups, and if so, are you going to make hopped-up cars a separate class?

2) Are you going to throw it open beyond the father and son thing? If you have some single guys (or gals) with lots of disposable income, they could end up running away with the hop-up class and that probably wouldn't be good for the overall program.

[NotWalkinBlind]

However, the rubberized gym floor you speak of will not work at all if it is anything like our rubberized gym floor. All you will get is tirespin and absolutely no traction.That's definitely something to consider. I bet if you contacted TRC or someone who makes foams, they could tell you of something you could put on them to cause them to make adequate traction... I'm sure you're not the first person who wanted to race on that type of surface. Find out who manufactured the flooring and contact them and ask what it's made of.

We used to use high SP sunblock tanning lotion to soften foams for asphalt racing. Might be worth a try... also you'd want to check to see if it damaged the flooring.

[Specializer]

jesus doesn't like gas :D I'm just kidding...cool stuff

[holeshotkid]

The Traxxas Spirit (http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXJE95**&P=7) would probly be a good car. :D

[jimbow]

t-specs are designed to be beginner-friendly machines that are possibly upgradeable and still economical. Yah, you might want to look at a hpi micro rs4 or even a duratrax micro street force.

[AirBoston]

I think I have enough information to cause some trouble. Now I just need to hold a fact finding meeting to see if I can get families and individuals interested. There's a ton of small kids, but I'd really like to target the older teens too. This place is pretty hip, so I think it'll go well. If anyone has other ideas or thoughts on this quest, please give a shout.

[Red01MustangGT]

Sounds like fun, I should see if my church would be interested in something like this.

[NotWalkinBlind]

Have you asked yourself this; should you let kids only race against kids and dads only against other dads? Or just let the dads be the car builder/helper and pit crew? Dads can sometimes get too serious about winning and ruin things... kids are many times better at keeping things fun/in perspective.

[Noob33]

I think thats dumb church is for praying not rc in my opion anyways im from europe

[AirBoston]

Church is for fellowship as well as worship.

[evaderstman]

The t-specs would be good do to the fact that they are a kit with wvery thing minus the radio gear and they only cost about a hundred dollars.

[C.J.OO]

I think thats dumb church is for praying not rc in my opion anyways im from europe



I think its a Fantastic Idea...

some Of the Larger Churches here in Auss Have Skate Parks for the Youth groups and all Kinds of events.
so an RC track is a great idea...

Father/Son teams is a great idea Also..
I can Just Imagine the Dads wanting to Race as Much as the Kids do..lol..

[jimbow]

who cares if your from europe? Church is not just about praying, its about fellowship and having good, clean fun.

[Red01MustangGT]

...Church is not just about praying, its about fellowship and having good, clean fun.
Amen!! My church is pretty cool, they do guy bowling nights, family miniture golf nights, and a ton of other stuff to stay active with each other. These events are also great oportunities to bring your neighbors or friends who aren't too sure about going to a formal Sunday church gathering, but wouldn't mind meeting more people at a church function. My brother in law is involved with young life. He is very strong Christian, but he hangs out with kids, many of which are no-believers, showing them that Christians have fun too.

[NotWalkinBlind]

Howzit goin'?

[metalry101]

I'd go w/ the Micro RS4. It's small enough that you wouldn't even need the entire gym, simple enough to work on that anyone can fix them, and they're quite durable. I used to race them, and they were definately a lot of fun. They're also extremely durable, and even if you do manage to break them, parts are cheap. The XRay M18 is a better car, but I'm not sure if they offer an RTR, which is probably what you're looking for.

In tenth scale, the Trinity T-Spec is probably the cheapest way to go, but since I can't stand Trinity, I'd probably suggest something else. The HPI Sprint is a good car that comes w/ everything, and they're fairly inexpensive. The Traxxas 4-Tec is hopelessly outdated, but it would definately be enough for what you're wanting. The TC3 RTR is the best RTR tourer on the market, but they're more expensive.

If you're looking for something they can have a little more fun with off the track, I'd say 1/18 off-road. The RC18T would be the ideal choice, but the Mini-T is 50 bucks cheaper, so if you're looking to save money, that's a solid choice.

You could also race Rustlers and/or Evaders, or even Stampedes. All three of those would be more versatile than every other car I've listed here combined. They're not as racy as the rest, but 8 year olds don't need race cars to race, they just need cars. Those are all fairly cheap, and could probably be had for right around 200 bux apiece w/ a peak charger and a decent battery. If you're looking to draw people into the hobby as a whole and not just race, then those would be the way to go. The kids will be able to drive them at home, so parents will be more likely to spend the money, cuz it won't only be useful on a race track, and if it's used more, then that means more "together time" for father and son, which seems to be the goal. Those three vehicles are probably the best way to get into r/c on a budget. They're big enough to go over most things, they're durable enough to withstand most newbie punishment, and they're cheap enough that pretty much anyone can afford them. That's hard to beat.

[NotWalkinBlind]

Are y'all racin' yet?
:)

[astainback]

My idea was the Trinity itsy-bitsy spider, it is alot cheaper than the minit and 18t, and looks just as durable. i don't have one, but I would get one if i didn't already own a miniT.
Also, if you pick a class/size, people can choose, and that gives the families more of an option for $$$ if you know what I mean.

adrian

[SS Pede]

The Duratrax Delphi indy car is inexpensive and simple. But it's 2wd and you might have trouble finding grippy tires. Oh, one more thing...insanely overpowered for a newbie. :) Just a thought.

[NotWalkinBlind]

It wouldn't be advisable to start up a beginner program with an open-wheeled car... plus, they're basically a discontinued item at most sources.

[SS Pede]

Maybe Traxxas Sprint then, like the other person said. :)

[NotWalkinBlind]

You mean HPI Sprint?
;)
This guy's trying to get something going for as little startup cost as possible... so it's probably gonna be something smaller than 1/10th.
:cool:

[SS Pede]

Darnit! Traxxas SPIRIT. :) That's the cheap 2wd truck, right? Sheesh. :) Anyways good point, 18th scale might be better.

[AirBoston]

I forgot all about this thread! I must say though that I'm quite pleased that it's still alive.

No, we're not racing yet, but a new group/ ministry called RAD has been started. So far, I've only held one airbrush course and displayed some of my RC paint jobs. I need to contact the local hobby store owner to see if he's willing to do something for us. Looking through the options, I think off road 1/18 scale will be the best bet. It still offers hobby quality but for a lesser price. I think off road is better to get people interested due to the versitility and allow backyard play time. Racing is fun, but I'm sure most RCers are bashers. That's how I got started.